Posted By Suzanne Brown On November 29, 2012 @ 6:37 am In Mile High Style | No Comments

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Mondo Guerra talks to AIDS service organizations at the launch of I Design, his national HIV campaign in collaboration with Merck. I Design helps empower people living with HIV to work with their doctors to take a “tailored” approach to their treatment plan. (Photo by Amy Sussman/Invision for Merck/AP Images)

The process of producing that fabric – a graphic pattern featuring plus symbols — not only ended up helping him win one of many design challenges on the popular reality television show, but it also aided him in coming to grips with some big challenges in his life.

Guerra, 34, has been HIV positive for 12 years but hadn’t told his family until he announced it on the show. The admission was life-changing for him personally and is changing the lives of others as well.

The Denver-born designer has become something of an AIDS activist, getting involved in education campaigns, visiting AIDS conferences and also speaking on college campuses and to young people around the country.

Guerra’s latest collaboration, I Design, is with the pharmaceutical company Merck. The aim is to help empower people living with HIV/AIDS to work with their doctors in taking a “tailored” approach to their HIV treatment plans. Having open and meaningful discussions with doctors about their daily lives is a key for those with HIV, because everyone’s experience is different, Guerra says.

Guerra designed a dress, which is featured on the website, to commemorate World AIDS Day – Saturday — and get people talking. Meanwhile, anyone can work with the tools on the site to create his or her own textiles on ProjectIDesign.com[4] as a means of expression and opening up. The site has a conversation checklist which visitors can download and use as an aid in talking with a doctor. The site also features a video of a conversation between Guerra and HIV specialist Dr. Michael Gottlieb.

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Mondo Guerra’s dress design commemorates World AIDS Day and his partnership with Merck on projectidesign.com

When we caught up with Mondo earlier this week, he was nursing a cough and cold but as always, was eager to share his message. “It’s really important for those of us living with HIV/AIDS to check in and have a conversation with someone we can trust,” he said.

“I can tell you that right around this time three years ago I was in the hospital with pneumonia as result of the disease. I had hit rock bottom. I wasn’t taking responsibility; I was allowing HIV to define who I was.” It was destroying his creativity and his personal relationships, he admits.

“For me it was not only a matter of being responsible for myself and finding a treatment plan,” he said. “For a long time I was in denial about it and was depressed. I was scared to talk to anybody because I didn’t want to be judged or pushed away. I was embarrassed to walk in and get that help.”

But he faced the fears and went to the Denver Colorado AIDS Project. “They really helped me,” Guerra says.

He says he’s “in the right place for me right now” and has had the same doctor for seven years.

Guerra’s work on the I Design program has been keeping him busy with travel and working on social media, but he’s also still trying to produce a fashion collection. The latter effort got a setback when samples he sent to New York were lost amidst the megastorm Sandy. “My 14 spring samples were MIA and had to be re-cut,” Guerra said.

As part of this win on “Project Runway All Stars” Guerra is supposed to be producing a capsule collection that will be sold in selected Neiman Marcus stores. He was hoping for that to happen in spring 2013, but it’s a little up in the air now that the samples have to be remade.

World AIDS Day in Denver is being recognized with a couple of events in Denver, including:

More than 20 local designers, 17 salons and 140 models will take to the runway Sunday for the fourth annual Red Ball[6] to benefit Denver Colorado AIDS Project. The event, which expects to attract some 700 people, aims to increase awareness of World AIDS Day and educate the public about HIV/AIDS. The ball includes a cocktail reception, entertainment and a silent auction. Doors open at 6 p.m. for a VIP reception and 7 p.m. for general admission; with the show at 8:15 p.m.. Tickets are $30 for age 30 and under; $50 for general admission; $75 for runway seating and $400 for a VIP table for four. Exdo Event Center, 1399 35th St. redballdenver.org.

My Lola jewelry[7] and Give Hope, Fight Poverty[8] are joining to raise money and awareness for orphans in Swaziland on World AIDS Day Saturday at the Hornet, 76 Broadway, from 6-10 p.m. Guests can shop for My Lola and GHFP African Artisan Direct jewelry and crafts and enter a raffle to win gift certificates to local businesses. The Hornet will also be donating 20 percent of its profits from the event to the cause.